Indonesia's Lion Group breaks into aircraft leasing industry

[SINGAPORE] Indonesia's Lion Group, which boasts an order backlog of about 500 Boeing and Airbus aircraft, has clinched the first deal for its leasing subsidiary in a key diversification move for one of the world's fastest-growing airlines.

Two years after setting up shop in Singapore, Transportation Partners (TP) has signed a deal to lease three new Boeing 737-800 planes to 9 Air, the low-cost airline of China's Juneyao Airlines, TP's chief operating officer told Reuters.

Though TP's deal with 9 Air involves just three aircraft, the potential is significant in a market such as China where airlines will need nearly 6,000 new jets over the next 20 years. Many of those aircraft, valued at US$780 billion at list prices in total, will be leased rather than bought as carriers seek to cap long-term commitments.